NASCAR WCUP: Elliott Sadler thrilled with racing at Indianapolis
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
August 2, 2001
Elliott Sadler saw Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time in 1995 while he was in Indianapolis for the Busch race at Indianapolis Raceway Park. While growing up he had watched the 500 on television, but it never occurred to him that he would race at the famous 2.5-mile oval one day. Below are his thoughts on this weekend's Brickyard 400.
Elliott Sadler, -21- Motorcraft Ford Taurus - "I saw the track for the first time in 1995. I watched the 500 on television when I was growing up just like everybody else, but nobody ever thought we'd run stockcars on it so it wasn't something I thought about. The Brickyard is famous for the Indianapolis 500 and it's pretty cool for the stock cars to be able to race on it now. It's a fun racetrack."
IS IT INTIMIDATING GO THERE? "No, I like it. It's a good racetrack. It's fast. It's a pretty cool place. I like it."
YOU TESTED AT INDY LAST WEEK. WHAT DID YOU THINK? "The tires are new so that is a change from last year. It's going to be hard to pass with the tires we are going to run there. It's a lot different than any tire we've run at any racetrack. It will be tough to get hold of the racetrack. Everywhere we've been we've been a little bit slower and that's just the way the new tire is and I think it's fine. It's a little harder, a little hard to set up on. It's not grippier right off the truck. It makes you work a little harder. That's all we're seeing -- the same tendencies that we've seen from this tire each and every weekend getting ready for qualifying."
HAS THIS BRICKYARD TRACK CHANGED A LOT? "It's still one of the smoothest tracks we race at. It's pretty slick out there. When the sun gets on this racetrack it's the most temperamental place in the world and it gets slick. It'll change in 20 minutes, from run to run, and that's why you need computer systems (during the tests) on these cars to give you data. You might run a half-a-second slower, but the car might feel better and the computer guy can tell you, 'Okay, the car did this better,' because the track changes so much. Plus, with four different corners if you miss one corner, there goes your time and at least you can go off the other stuff. As far as the track changing, it's still a smooth place and I can't really tell much difference from last year."
"We used one car for qualifying set-up and one for race set-up, and it was a pretty good test. Our speeds were in the top-ten part of the time so I think we're ready."
Text provided by Marti Rompf
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